Five acquitted in Mecca Masjid bomb blast case

Hyderabad: A special NIA court here today acquitted five persons, including Swami Aseemanand, in the 2007 Mecca Masjid blast case. Nine persons were killed and 58 injured in the blast. Ten persons were named as accused in the case.

However, only five of them — Devendra Gupta, Lokesh Sharma, Swami Aseemanand alias Naba Kumar Sarkar, Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar alias Bharat Bhai and Rajendra Chowdhary — who were arrested had faced trial in the case.

Two other accused — Sandeep V Dange and Ramchandra Kalsangra — are absconding while another accused Sunil Joshi had died. Investigations were continuing against two other accused. A total of 226 witnesses were examined during the trial and as many as 411 documents exhibited.

Swami Aseemanand and Bharat Mohanlal Rateshwar were on bail while three others have been lodged in the Central prison here under judicial remand. In March 2017, a court in Rajasthan had sentenced Gupta and others to life in jail in the Ajmer Dargah blast case.